"Last year, my 15-year-old lobbied for an e-scooter. It would get him to school faster, give him a taste of independence, and, of course, his friends had them. He didn’t yet have a driver’s license, and he was still mastering the art of carrying his laundry downstairs. But we said yes, with the usual conditions: Wear a helmet. Follow the rules of the road.
In the ensuing months, micromobility devices — e-bikes, e-scooters, and similarly lightweight vehicles that operate at roughly 20 miles per hour, though some can exceed those speeds — made troubling news.
In August 2025, a pedestrian was struck by an electric bike near Copley Square, later dying from those injuries. In late 2025, a Stoneham child died in an electric dirt bike crash. Kids who aren’t mature enough to control high-speed vehicles, plus drivers unaccustomed to navigating around these devices on the road — it’s a dangerous combination.
As crashes mounted, lawmakers took notice. This spring, Governor Maura Healey proposed the Ride Safe Act, regulating where and how different micromobility devices can operate. Earlier this month, House Democrats introduced similar legislation, acknowledging that while e-bikes and e-scooters offer speed and convenience, they also pose growing safety risks."
Continue reading the article via this shared link - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/24/lifestyle/er-doctors-parents-e-bikes-e-scooters/?s_campaign=sharetool_copypaste_view
